A 20-year-old man has been charged after allegedly sending vile and threatening messages to Newcastle Knights winger James Schiller following his side’s dramatic comeback win over Manly in Round 14.
The abuse, shared by Schiller and his teammates on Instagram, included a barrage of violent language, one message telling the 22-year-old to “count your days” and another stating: “I will f***ing end your life.”
One particularly graphic post ended with the chilling line: “Hope you choke and die.”
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NRL Integrity Unit and police involved
Lake Macquarie detectives began investigating after the Knights referred the threats to both the NRL Integrity Unit and police.
The man was arrested on Friday and later charged with “use carriage service to menace/harass/offend”. He has been granted conditional bail and will appear at Belmont Local Court on 30 July, as reported by Code Sports.
Knights coach Adam O’Brien expressed his dismay after the incident came to light, defending his player’s right to make mistakes without being subjected to abuse.
“I want to protect them, so for him to go through that over a couple of errors is terrible,” O’Brien said. “It’s a game of footy and he’s got a family, so that’s partly the reason why you do want to protect them.”
Schiller had featured in Newcastle’s spirited 26-22 win over Manly, in which they overcame a 16-point halftime deficit, a game that had seen the Knights booed off at the break.